Item 567 - Apollo 17 Catalog 396 (Nov 2012)

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Minimum Bid:

$1,000.00

Sold Price:

$30,768.00 (includes buyer's premium)

Description

Flown, complete Apollo 17 Command Service Module Guidance and Control checklist, flown into lunar orbit on board Apollo 17. Checklist measures 6 x 8, is bound by its original three rings in the left edge, and contains 124 pages (62 individual sheets), mostly double-sided, including an extensively used fold-out star chart. Contains a page of inflight writing, and several pages exhibiting smudges of dust and residue spotting consistent with extensive inflight use. The G&C Checklist provided the noun and verb commands, star chart alignments, and other critical inputs needed to operate the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) via the display and numeric keypad (DSKY). The G&C checklist is literally the “users manual” for flying the Apollo command and service module spacecraft! Signed on the front cover in blue felt tip, “Flown on Apollo XVIII, Gene Cernan,” and also bears a “Provenance: The Eugene A. Cernan Space Collection,” stamp on the front cover. Accompanied by a signed letter of authenticity from Cernan which reads, in part: “This is to certify that the accompanying Apollo 17 CSM G & C Checklist, Part No. SKB32100123-310, S/N 1002 was flown to the Moon aboard the Command Service Module ‘America’ during the historic last lunar landing mission of the Apollo space program…This flown checklist, one of only two that flew and was used on this mission…includes star charts and alignment instructions for spacecraft control…NASA’s policy…permitted astronauts to keep disposable equipment from their mission as personal mementos. I, accordingly, chose to include this checklist among mine. This checklist has remained in my possession as a treasured part of my personal space collection for over thirty-nine years, ever since NASA presented it back to me in 1973, after my return from the Moon. This CSM G&C Checklist, with my hand signed flight certification on the cover, and my personal provenance stamp, remains both a historic tool used on Apollo 17, and a rare example of a lunar orbit flown manual from Project Apollo’s last voyage to the Moon.” In recent years, Apollo era checklists have been broken up and individual page sold for thousands of dollars. Thus, full, complete checklists are becoming extremely rare to acquire–especially one involved with the actual guidance and navigation of the spacecraft. In fine condition. Pre-certified Steve Zarelli and RR Auction COA.